How to play a shamisen




Point 1：The correct way of seiza (sitting in japanese way)


First, you need to sit down, open your knees to the width of your waist.
About the size which opens 1〜2 fists` space between your knees.

On the waist, please straighten your backbone and support in the abdomen.
The power of your upper half of the body and shoulder is to be relaxed.
Please have the image with which the backbone is extended straightly in the center of your pelvis.
And you need to add abdominal breathing calmly.
This will lead you to become the like"yoga" position.

Sitting down correctly first is very very important

Point 2 ：How to hold a shamisen


next, place the knee-rubber right in the middle of your right knee
This is the place on which the trunk of a shamisen is put.
Please take care not to hold a shamisen too close to the body.

Next, let the shamisen falls towards your body as shown on the photograph above.

please adjust your upper part of the body according to approach the shamisen if you think it is too far

If you have the image of carrying the trunk of a shamisen on your right knee,
the position of the trunk will become too high and the position of a shamisen will not settled.
Please think that the half of the trunk of a shamisen is put on the outside of your knee

Now, have you become the same posture as the upper photograph yet?

Point 3 ：How to hold a bachi


Five fingers of yours are softly bent round, as if you are grasping an egg, and the thumb and the little finger are put on the bottom of bachi.
Then your index finger, the middle finger, and the third finger, are located in a line, and please hold the bachi upwards.

Please lengthen the thumb gently.
Place where the fingertip of your thumb touches the mountain of bachi exactly ...
The place which you should grasp is one of them.

Your three fingers bent softly, should be maintaining balance which becomes reasonable and exactly parallel to the pole of a shamisen.


（Reference：Blog『Meeting with a good bachi.』）

Point 4 ：How to swing a bachi


The place to which bachi is hit should look like the upper photograph.
(It will become large when you click.)

Since the jiuta shamisen values the delicacy of a tone, the end is power with great force.

Please first relax your wrist, swing down vertically to the edge of the white part straightly, without opposing the weight of bachi.(uchikomi)

Point 5 ：How to press down the tsubo

For most of the time, the index finger, the middle finger and the forth finger are used to
hold down the tsubo (equivalent to pitches).
The thinnest string (third string) can be held down with your nail,
however for the other strings be careful not to use nail due to the sound resulted is not desirable.
 
The location where the string is pressed (on your finger) known as itomichi, is usually held right in the middle of your finger apart from the index finger which should be held slightly towards the thumb.　

Point 6 ：Beautiful HAJIKI (flicking the string)


There are two key points to the sound of beautiful HAJIKI


Hold down the tsubo correctly then flick (or more like press down and release from the side)
Now, a nice sound of HAJIKI will be made
Please try.











As you mighjt have noticed after reading this long text, it is never easy to play correctly. Though
I have done my best to give an account tof the basic keys to play a good sound on shamisen.
I would be most happy if this introduction could give you an slight inspiration of how to play the shamisen.

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